NASA’s Communique from Maanzoni Lodge,Machakos County.

Gathered here today is the leadership of the NASA movement from across the country. Our main agenda today was to plan the People’s Assembly.

The Kenyan people have struggled to establish just government, democracy and rule of law since independence. In 1992 Kenyan people re-established multiparty democracy after 23 years of a one party dictatorship. In 2010 we inaugurated a new constitution after another 15 year struggle.

Seven years later the constitution dispensation is seriously imperiled. The incumbent Jubilee administration has usurped power by subverting elections and intimidating the Supreme Court into upholding a sham election.

This usurpation of power is the culmination of a determined effort by the Jubilee administration to dismantle the new Constitution. It is a replay of the machinations that were employed by the Jomo Kenyatta administration to dismantle the independence Constitution and establish a one party dictatorship centered on an all-powerful presidency.

The Jubilee administration’s mission is to take us back into a centralized dictatorship, back to human rights abuses, repression of political rights, exclusion and economic marginalization of regions and communities which refuse to toe the line. The institutionalization of sham elections will mean that sycophancy will again supplant the will of the people and become the shortest and surest route to elective office.

We have stated, and we reiterate, that this country is now divided between those who are prepared to accept dictatorship as a fait accompli, and those of us who will resist it to the end. This divide cannot be bridged by dialogue and compromise. There is no halfway house between democracy and dictatorship. It is either, or. There is no halfway house between rule of law and law of the jungle. It is either or. There is no halfway house between free and fair elections and sham elections. It is either or.

A return to the political backwardness of our past is more than unacceptable. It is intolerable.

A month ago, we unveiled our three pronged action plan for returning to constitutional democracy and the rule of law comprising of sustained civic action, economic boycotts and the People’s Assembly. We continue with vigorous civic action and we thank our supporters for their courage under fire. On Tuesday, we will celebrate the lives of 26 resistance heroes. The economic boycott is going strong and hurting the greedy dictatorship where it hurts most.

We gathered here today to set in motion the third pillar, namely the People’s Assembly. As we do so, we are cognizant that the People’s Assembly is the subject of much debate, including misinformation. We take this opportunity to clarify what the People’s Assembly is, and what it is not.

The sovereignty of the people enshrined in our Constitution means that the people are the architects of the State. If as now, the State fails the people, if it is hijacked by self-serving people, if leaders consistently abuse power, if checks and balances do not work as they should, then the people are compelled to go back to the drawing board. The People’s Assembly is that drawing board. It is not a parallel government. It is not an alternative parliament or county assembly. It is a process of charting political destiny.

As People’s Assembly, we will protect our county governments from the predations of the Jubilee administration that are already manifest. We will reflect on the politics of exclusion and ethnic dominance.

Following our deliberations today we have resolved as follows:

To affirm that we do not recognize the October 26 presidential election, and to declare that as per Article 1(1) of the Constitution, we have not individually and collectively delegated our sovereignty to Uhuru Kenyatta. In this regard, we call upon our Members of Parliament not to participate in vetting Uhuru Kenyatta’s cabinet and other appointments.

To urge Kenyans to ignore the despotic coronation of Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday 28 November 2017 and instead join us in person at Jacaranda Grounds Nairobi, or in spirit, to mourn the lives of our dearly departed men, women and children who have paid the highest price for exercising their basic constitutionally guaranteed right of political dissent through peaceful protest

To assert, as per Article 1 of the Constitution, the right of citizens to exercise their sovereignty at the county level, is not subject to supervision or veto by the national government.

To hold the inaugural convention of the People’s Assembly in the month of December 2017.

To assert that we recognize Raila Amolo Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka as the legitimate President and Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya respectively, and as sovereign people commit ourselves to see to it that they assume office.

We embark on our journey of restoring democracy, just government and legitimate leadership inspired by the words of the Constitution of the US State of New Hampshire:

“Whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.”

Get Connected

Get news as it happens

Search Kenyan Report

The Kenyan Report is an online Kenyan news website that brings to you political, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, technology and current news while exercising netiquette & integrity. We insist on neutrality in our coverage.